Glenn Beck: Self-proclaimed world-historical figure

Glenn Beck has portrayed himself as an important historical and theological figure who is under attack by a vast conspiracy. In the latest example, Beck has said that he believes that in 200 years, his upcoming rally "will be remembered as the moment America turned the corner."

Beck claims his 8-28 rally will "reclaim the civil rights movement" and "be remembered as the moment America turned the corner"

Beck: "I believe this will be remembered as the moment America turned the corner," it will be "an image for the history books." On the June 8 broadcast of his radio program, Beck said of his August 28 Restoring Honor Rally:

BECK: It's 8-28 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, August 28th. I ask you to come. And I ask you to leave your signs at home. And I ask you to bring your children with you.

This is going to be an image for the history books. If you come, I believe this may -- maybe in 100 years from now or 200 years from now -- I believe this will be remembered as the moment America turned the corner.

I don't know how it works out. I don't know if it even works out in my lifetime, but I believe this is the pivot point. Be there with your children.

Beck: The 8-28 rally will "reclaim the civil rights movement." In hyping his August rally on his May 26 radio broadcast, Beck said that the rally will be hailed as "an iconic event." He further stated that it will "reclaim the civil rights movement":

BECK: This is going to be an iconic event. This is going to be a moment that you'll never be able to paint people as haters, racists, none of it. This is a moment quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement. It has been so distorted, and so turned upside down. It's an abomination.

[...]

Now, while we're not going to talk about the issues of illegal immigration or anything that's happening in Washington, because we must repair honor and integrity and honesty first, I tell you right now, we are on the right side of history. We are on the side of individual freedoms and liberties, and damn it we will reclaim the civil rights moment. We will take that movement because we were the people that did it in the first place.

Beck: "When our children are the ones that are writing history, it will be remembered as the turning point in the American experiment." Outlining the program for the rally on his May 26 broadcast, Beck stated that it will be "unforgettable" and will "make you weep all night." Beck also said the event "will be remembered in American history as the turning point." He also postulated that while the story of the rally "may be maybe even erased from history for a long time," "when our children are the ones that are writing history, it will be remembered as the turning point in the American experiment."

Beck claims that "the Capitol will fix itself if we just stand between Washington and Lincoln and try to be those people ... and the country will be fixed." On the May 7 edition of his Fox News program, Beck claimed that while "everybody tries to fix the Capitol," his 8-28 rally will be the way "we'll be fixed." Beck alleged that he and his viewers will be successful in such an endeavor "if we just stand between Washington and Lincoln."

Beck compares himself to civil rights heroes and Founding Fathers

Just as MLK "had to face German shepherds," Beck and his followers "have to face SEIU and leftist thugs." On his March 25 radio broadcast, Beck compared himself to Martin Luther King Jr., stating that while King and his followers "had to face German shepherds, we have to face and SEIU and leftist thugs." Beck also compared his plight to being "rounded up" by Che Guevara in Cuba.

Beck drew parallels between his followers and those who followed Rosa Parks, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. On the April 5 edition of his radio broadcast, also in reference to the SEIU, Beck again invoked civil rights leaders, arguing that "they're telling you get to the back of the bus." From the April 5 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: You have Van Jones, and the Center for American Progress, they start their little boycott. Then you've got Jim Wallis, an advisor to the president, he starts his little boycott. Now you have SEIU teaming up with, is it MoveOn.org? MoveOn.org, with Soros money, and they're starting their little boycott. You've got to be kidding me. You really think that Americans are this stupid? I mean that's how low of an opinion they have of you. They really think that no one will see that this is orchestrated by the administration.

[...]

They're trying to intimidate, not me, but you. You see, if they make an example -- have you ever heard anybody say "my vote doesn't count?" have you heard anybody say "well, what am I going to do about it?" The reason why people say that is because if the people who have a microphone like mine, if they cant make any difference, if they're chewed up by the machine, what chance do you stand?

Let me tell you something. You are the key. Not me or people like me, but you and people like you. Millions of people like you. They're not afraid of me, they're afraid of you!

Just like Gandhi. Just like Rosa Parks. It wasn't Rosa Parks. It was the millions of people that were inspired by Rosa Parks' non-movement. Rosa Parks wasn't a danger. The people who watched her and said "yeah, I'm with her, I'm not movin' either." It's the people who sat at a counter, a soda fountain counter. You think people were afraid of them? No. They were afraid of the people that those people inspired.

Martin Luther King was just one man. You see, what they're doing is they're saying "get up from the counter. You don't have a seat at this counter." Yes you do. They're telling you: "Get to the back of the bus!" "You don't sit up here, you sit back there!" No I don't. You stand up for what you believe.

Beck "wouldn't be surprised" if "dogs and fire-hoses are released or opened on us" The April 9 edition of his radio broadcast again featured Beck urging his followers to act like "real reformers," and comparing their future struggles to those of the civil rights activists. Beck stated that he "wouldn't be surprised if in our lifetime dogs and fire-hoses are released or opened on us." Beck added that he "wouldn't be surprised if a few of us get a billy club to the head," and then warned that "tough times are coming."

Beck further likened his views on government to those of Martin Luther King Jr. From the November 25, 2009 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

It is only people that stand up against the government and do what our founding fathers told us to do, to be vigilant on our rights, those are the people, these are the times when you stand up, when you can stand up peacefully. Because if you don't stand up as you are losing those rights, as the government is growing in power, then, unfortunately it becomes too late to stand up peacefully. How many times do I have to say: Peaceful. As Martin Luther King did. Was Martin Luther King, was he anti-government? Well he sure took the government and turned it upside-down, now didn't he? He totally transformed the parties in this government.

Beck stated he would hunt down progressives "like the Israeli Nazi hunters." On January 20, Beck declared on The Glenn Beck Program: "To the day I die I am going to be a progressive hunter." He likened his quest of identifying and exposing progressives to that of "Israeli Nazi hunters," and promised to "find these people" "and expose them." Beck proclaimed that "our republic, if it survives, will only survive because the people are waking up."

Beck compared himself to Thomas Paine, calling Paine "kind of the me" of his generation." Beck likened himself to Thomas Paine on the February 18 edition of his television show, citing Paine's role as the "guy just saying, 'Hey, really, stand up. Come on. We can do it'," during the American Revolution:

BECK: Thomas Paine was kind of the -- oh, I don't know. My apologies to Thomas Paine, but kind of the me of the genera -- I mean, I can't think of anybody else. A guy just saying, "Hey, really, stand up. Come on. We can do it." He was kind of the -- he was the media guy, really. He just did pamphlets, the rest of us just do TV.

Beck suggested he would "be called crazy right along with Benjamin Franklin." After stating that "illegal immigration is modern-day slavery" on the October 9, 2009, edition of his television show, Beck suggested that he would be attacked just "like Benjamin Franklin." From the October 9, 2009, edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: "I know, I know, I'm going to be called a hatemonger for this, you know, conversation that we have, whatever, that's fine. They also called people like Benjamin Franklin a hatemonger. They said that he was crazy. I wonder if they've said that about me yet. Yeah, Benjamin Franklin was crazy, he was the first real abolitionist. Boy that man stood up every single time. And in our modern-day slavery, I will be happy to be called crazy right along with Benjamin Franklin."

Beck likened himself to Paul Revere. On the March 4 broadcast of his radio show, Beck categorized himself as integral in the health care debate by comparing himself to Paul Revere. He wonders how "the rest of the nation doesn't see" that they are in peril, and stated, "today is the first day that I actually feel like Paul Revere." From the March 4 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: Health care, yesterday was one of the more incredible things I have ever seen, this health care speech with the doctors behind him. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. I don't understand how the rest of the nation doesn't see this. Or how they don't understand our nation, as we know it, is in peril. Today is the first day that I actually feel like Paul Revere. The British are coming. The British are coming.

Beck says he's advancing "the plan that [God] would have me articulate, I think" against "darkness"

Beck says he is promoting "the plan that [God] would have me articulate, I think, to you," against "darkness." On the April 20 edition of his radio show, Beck stated:

BECK: Yesterday, when I walked out of the studio, I looked at Pat and I almost said to Pat -- I said, "I can feel it coming." He said, "I know." He said, "They are just strong in power and focus." And I said, "It's just -- it's darkness, and I can just feel it coming." And I started to say, "The problem is, is that -- " and I stopped, because I don't want to utter something like this without really thinking it through, but what I was about to say is, "the problem is that God is giving a plan, I think, to me that is not really a plan."

And I stopped myself, because I wouldn't want to utter those things out loud, if that's not exactly right, and it's not. That time of reflection, it took me about 30 seconds as Pat stood there thinking, "Oh jeez, did he forget we were having a conversation?" And I said, "The problem is that I think the plan that the Lord would have us follow is hard for people to understand."

But I'm telling you, here's what I feel with everything in me. If you've listened to this program - they're going to use this against me - If you've listened to this program for a long time, you know who I am, and you know that many of the things that I have done and said, that have put me in, you know, harm's way in one way or another, they always start at the same place. They always start at my gut or my heart, and then I figure it out as we go along. All the stuff that I feel has been important on this show has been things that I felt and didn't understand. I say because of my track record with you who have been here for a long time, because of my track record with you, I beg of you to help me get this message out, and I beg of you to pray for clarity on my part.

The plan that He would have me articulate, I think, to you, is "Get behind me." And I don't mean me, I mean Him. "Get behind me. Stand behind me." I truly believe, I have done years now of reading the Founders, their diaries, their letters, the Pilgrims, their diaries, their letters. I've read the firsthand letters, I've held them in my hand. The exchanges between the Founders, I've held their actual letters in my hand. I have seen it with my own eyes, and I will tell you that God was instrumental and they knew it. They knew they had very little to do with it, they just stood where they were supposed to stand and they said the things that they were supposed to say, as He directed. Some of them lost their way; some of them got it wrong. They go back and forth, they were human, but that's what He's asking us to do, is to stand, peacefully, quietly, with anger, quiet with anger, loudly with truth. Faith is the answer. Get on your knees, don't let it take a September 11, please, get on your knees. I don't care what church you go to, no church at all, I don't care. Turn to Him.

Beck: "I haven't seen Jesus and what he would do on a talk show on Fox ... but I'm going to try." On the April 21 edition of his Fox News program, Beck referenced King's call to "Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love" and stated: "I got news for you -- a long way away from that. I haven't seen Jesus and what he would do in a talk show on FOX. It would be hard -- or on CNN or MSNBC. But I'm going to try."

Beck says someone "in the Vatican" told him "what you're doing is wildly important." On his April 22 radio show, Beck said:

BECK: We are entering a - we are entering a dark, dark period of man. Um, I was, um, I was in the Vatican, and I was surprised that the individual I was speaking to knew who I was. And they said: 'Of course we know who you are. What you're doing is wildly important. We're entering a period of great darkness, and if good people don't stand up, we could enter a period unlike we have seen in a very long time.'

It was odd to stand in the Vatican and hear those words. Of all places that would understand the Dark Ages. We are dealing with people who want to deconstruct the world. They say they are for progress, but their progress is to deconstruct. Their progress is to go backwards. Instead of inventing our way out of something. Instead of heralding achievement and merit, they destroy it. Instead of respecting life, we devalue it.

Beck: "[F]all to your knees" and "thank God every day for the people at Fox" for airing his show. On the April 8 edition of his Fox News program, discussing his upcoming episode on "faith and our Founders," Beck said, "America, you are never going to get -- thank God, fall to your knees, I mean this and thank God every day for the people at FOX because they allow stuff like this on the air. And believe me, they will have heat for it."

Beck claims to be the target of a wide-ranging conspiracy aimed at his destruction

Beck claims his detractors are "relentless" and that he "can't go anywhere without major security." In an appearance on the May 24 edition of Fox Business' America's Nightly Scoreboard, Beck claimed that his distracters are "just coming after me and they've been relentless." He elaborated on this by saying that he "Can't go anywhere without major security."

Suggesting a conspiracy against him, Beck stated that he knows he's right about things whenever "something goes wrong" After losing the radio signal on the April 30 edition of his radio show, Beck suggested that there was some sort of conspiracy against him because "something goes wrong" every time he's "absolutely right" about something. Beck claimed that "this week has been the hardest week" of his time in broadcast because he has started talking about things like "Puerto Rico and the progressives" and "all of the connections with labor unions and everything else." He alleged that usually "we don't have problems," but on the set "everything that could go wrong, did go wrong."

Beck urges his listeners to "act as [his] safety deposit box" "in case something happens." On the May 14 edition of his radio show, Beck stated that there are "things that we have experienced" that makes him feel like he's in the movie The Bourne Identity. He warns his viewers that "in case something happens, it wasn't an accident," and told his listeners that they are serving as his "safety deposit box."

Beck: "If you associate yourself at all with Glenn Beck, Congress will come after you." On the May 18 edition of his radio show, Beck stated, "If you associate yourself at all with Glenn Beck, Congress will come after you. That's exactly what's happening."

Beck warned his listeners: "the press will tell you, 'don't listen to him'." On the May 3 edition of his television program Beck suggested that "the press" has told the American public not to listen to him because "he's a fearmonger." Beck claimed: "I told you last summer, and again... the press will tell you, 'don't listen to him'." He further lamented that "nobody in the media even cares," despite Beck's assertion that "if you paid attention" to his book, "you'd see our future."

Beck bolsters his credentials by falsely claiming that "no one has proved [him] wrong," and that his predictions are "all happening."

Recently, Beck stated that he had to change his new novel because "it's coming true." While discussing his new book on the June 6 edition of Glenn Beck, Beck claimed that he "had to change it because it's coming true." After an introduction that included images of President Obama signing the health care reform bill into law, Beck further suggested that his book is "the answer to what they've been doing." He concluded by stating: "This time, I hope the ending stays fiction."

Beck: "Have you noticed no one has proved me wrong?" On the April 13 edition of his radio show, Beck purported to detail a conversation with "someone in the media who I really respect" who supposedly asked him whether he was "surprised you're still alone." Beck stated that he had told the media figure that he "really thought a year and a half ago that if I could figure out what was going on and make a good case, others would stand up" and "follow through on the leads and either prove me wrong or prove me right." Beck then asked, "Have you noticed no one has proved me wrong? No one has even investigated them." He then stated that no one in the media has "done that story" on why Beck's theories are incorrect, because "we're not wrong," and the media has instead "set out to destroy" him.

In an interview on Fox and Friends, Beck stated that things he predicted "three years ago" are "all happening." In an appearance on the May 18 edition of Fox & Friends, Beck suggested that "we are moving into a global community," thanks to legislation like cap and trade. To support that claim, he asserted "things that [he] said were coming" three years ago are "all happening."

Beck "had a hard time sleeping" because reading The Drudge Report was "like reading a transcript of this show." Beck stated on the May 17 edition of Glenn Beck that "Marxist revolutionaries" are "moving us towards a global community." He suggested that "it's starting to happen," and claimed reading The Drudge Report "was like reading a transcript of this show." Beck said that his being wrong about these theories would be "the most extravagant case of bad luck and coincidence in the history of mankind"

Beck claims that he is able to "see more options" and can "see life as it really is." On the May 6 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, Beck credited his ability to "think the unthinkable" with providing is stated ability to "see the direction we're headed":

BECK: "If you listen to this program, you know that I have a very good record of calling the right direction, the right shot on the direction. The things that people say were insane, happen. I'm not a prophet by a stretch of the imagination. I'm a guy who refuses to not think out of the box. I'm willing to think the unthinkable. And because of that you see more options and you see life as it really is."

ABOUT OUR RESEARCH

Our research section features in-depth media analysis, original reports illustrating skewed or inadequate coverage of important issues, thorough debunking of conservative falsehoods that find their way into coverage and other special projects from Media Matters' research department.

The New York Times was forced to issue two corrections after relying on Capitol Hill anonymous sourcing for its flawed report on emails from former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The Clinton debacle is the latest example of why the media should be careful when relying on leaks from partisan congressional sources -- this is far from the first time journalists who did have been burned.

Several Fox News figures are attempting to shift partial blame onto Samuel DuBose for his own death at the hands of a Cincinnati police officer during a traffic stop, arguing DuBose should have cooperated with the officer's instructions if he wanted to avoid "danger."

Iowa radio host Steve Deace is frequently interviewed as a political analyst by mainstream media outlets like NPR, MSNBC, and The Hill when they need an insider's perspective on the GOP primary and Iowa political landscape. However, these outlets may not all be aware that Deace gained his insider status in conservative circles by broadcasting full-throated endorsements of extreme right-wing positions on his radio show and writing online columns filled with intolerant views that he never reveals during main stream media appearances.